Academic Guides: Video Transcripts: Commonly Cited Sources: Journal Article With URL

Commonly Cited Sources: Journal Article With URL

Last updated 7/9/2016

Visual: Walden logo at bottom of screen along with notepad and pencil background.

Audio: Guitar music.

Visual: “Walden University Writing Center. Your writing, grammar, and APA experts” appears in center of screen. Background changes to a book on a table and the title “Commonly Cited Sources: Journal Article with a URL.”

Slide changes to the title “Journal Article Reference Entries” and the following:

Author, A. A. (Year). Title of the article: In sentence case. Title of the Journal, volume(issue), page range. Electronic retrieval information (DOI or URL)

Audio: Journal articles are one of the most commonly used sources in academic writing, so as a Walden student it’s important to learn how to create a reference entry for this type of source. In this video, we’ll explore how to create a reference entry for an article that does not have a DOI number, so instead needs a URL.

First let’s explore the basic components of article reference entries.

Visual: As the speaker discusses each component of the reference entry, it is highlighted on the slide.

Audio: The reference entry starts with the author or authors of the article, listed in the same order as they are listed in the article itself. Note that you should include the authors’ first and middle initials if they are listed in the article.

Next we include the publication year of the article within parentheses. Note that these parentheses are followed by a period.

After the year include the title of the article in sentence case. This means that only the first word of the title, the first word after the colon, and any proper nouns are capitalized. Also note that this title is not bolded or italicized.

Next include the title of the journal the article was published in. This title appears in title case and is italicized, and is then followed by the volume and issue number. Note that the volume number is italicized, while the issue number is not and appears within parentheses. After the issue number, the page range for the article appears, but there’s no need to label it with wording like “pp.”—simply list the pages the article appears on.

Finally, you need to provide information to help your reader find this source online. APA prefers that authors include the DOI number, which stands for “digital object identifier”, if one is available. If a DOI is not available, then the second option is to include the URL of the journal’s home page. This URL is usually found by searching the journal’s name online. Note that if you have not checked if a journal article has a DOI number, you need to do so; be sure to watch our video “Finding DOI or URLs for Journal Article Reference Entries” to learn how.

Visual: Screen changes to an example reference entry:

Clark, T. D., Jones, M. C., & Armstrong, C. P. (2007). The dynamic structure of management support systems: Theory development, research focus, and direction. MIS Quarterly, 31(3), 579-615. Retrieved from http://www.misq.org

Audio: Alright, now that we know the components of a journal article reference entry, let’s look at an example. Here you can see that I’ve included all three authors for this article, including their initials and separating the authors’ names with the ampersand (“&”) symbol. Next we have the year in parentheses and the article’s title, which follows title case, as we discussed. Next the title of the journal and the volume number appear, both in italics. After the volume number, we see the issue number in parentheses and the page range of the article.

Visual: The URL in the reference entry is highlighted:

Audio: Finally, here we can see the journal’s home page URL. Before moving on, let’s talk more about including the home page URL and how to avoid common errors for this section of the reference entry.

Visual: Screen changes to the following:

Do NOT include the URL where you accessed the article from the Walden Library.

Audio: First, do not include the URL where you accessed the article from the Walden library. This URL is password-protected, so your reader won’t be able to use it. A good tip is that if the URL has “waldenulibrary” in it, it’s probably the wrong one.

Visual: Screen changes to the following:

Do NOT include a retrieval date.

Audio: Second, do not include a retrieval date. Retrieval dates are only needed for sources that might change often over time, but because an article is formally published, it isn’t likely to change and so a retrieval date isn’t needed.

Instead, remember to just include the words “Retrieved from” and the home page of the journal.

Audio: And that’s it! While journal article reference entries might seem complicated at first, you’ll master them with practice and by following these suggestions.

Visual: The screen changes to displaying the following bullets as the speaker discusses them:

Take it each section at a time
Follow examples
Pay close attention to formatting and punctuation
Ask if you have questions!

Audio: Approach the reference entry a section at a time; follow the examples on our website, in this video, and in the APA Manual; pay close attention to formatting like italics and punctuation like commas and periods; and ask if you have questions—we’re happy to help!

Visual: The screen changes to end with the words: Walden University Writing Center. Questions? E-mail writingsupport@mail.waldenu.edu.

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Commonly Cited Sources: Journal Article With URL

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